Euro 2025: 'Critical' Wales make lasting legacy of qualification

BBC News

3 days ago

The theme of Wales' historic Euro 2025 campaign has been the act of climbing a mountain.At the beginning of their qualifying campaign, manager Rhian Wilkinson set her players the goal of becoming the first Wales team to reach a women's major tournament. That, she said, was climbing the mountain.Then when she selected her squad for the competition, it was symbolic that Wilkinson decided to do it at the summit of Yr Wyddfa.It is only natural that Wales' players will be dejected after Sunday's 6-1 thrashing by England confirmed their elimination at the earliest stage, but they can take great pride in the fact that they have helped their country scale new heights.
Now the goal is to build on this achievement, to make it a lasting legacy."That's the absolutely critical question for us because we've always known that this is about what we do next," says former Wales captain Laura McAllister, who is now a vice-president with European football governing body Uefa."We're not starting from a low base because we already have a strategy for women and girls but, of course, qualifying for tournaments brings not just more funding but also more opportunity to capitalise on the energy around the game and the inspiration for young girls particularly to go out and play football."So it's incumbent on us now in football, whether it's Welsh level or European level, to make sure the money we spend on the game creates a stronger pathway for all players, whether they're going to be the next Jess Fishlock or Angharad James, or whether they're just going to play for fun with their friends."
How to inspire future generations?
By qualifying for Euro 2025, Wales have transformed women's football in their homeland.It was only in the 1990s that they were recognised by their own association as a fully-fledged international team.For years afterwards, they were still underfunded, undervalued and, often, simply ignored.But the players who fought for their right to play – McAllister among them – would not be denied.Those who made sure that women could wear the red shirt - even if it was an ill-fitting hand-me-down from a men's team - did not take no for an answer.It is on the shoulders of those pioneers that the current players stand.And by qualifying for their first tournament, these women realised the dreams of their trailblazing predecessors.Having been drawn in such a difficult group, nobody gave Wales much hope – but just to see them play on that stage was magical.And then to watch Fishlock - who else - score their first goal at a tournament? That was beyond special.These moments will endure. They will inspire generations to come. So how does the Football Association of Wales do that in practical terms?"Well, first and foremost there has to be enough clubs that are welcoming and they need to provide the right opportunities for girls, and really there's no excuse for any football club not to have a girls' section and a women's section now," McAllister tells BBC Wales."If they aren't doing that now then they should be on the journey to doing it because we need to make the opportunities very local, obviously we can't expect girls to travel hundreds of miles to play football."We also have to invest heavily in the facility base because we know that we don't have enough facilities for boys or girls, or men and women, at the moment. Fortunately we're able to tailor some of our investment now into feminising some of the facilities so that we have simple things like better changing rooms, better toilet facilities, things that can be done relatively cheaply."But this all has to be part of the overarching strategy and it's a big and complex area because what we need to do for the grassroots is very different to what we need to do to strengthen the pathway for the elite and talented players."The desire to capitalise on this moment extends to politics."Qualifying for a first major women's tournament is an incredible feat by this fantastic group of players. I am incredibly proud of all the team has achieved," says Jack Sargeant, Wales' minister for sport."The best way to celebrate this historic achievement is by helping inspire even more young women to play football. "We will do this by supporting projects right across Wales, helping build future success and cementing the players' legacy for generations to come."
'Wales can make the impossible seem possible'
It is impossible to remove the historical and emotional context when analysing this campaign but, in pure footballing terms, Wales simply came up against superior opponents.Wilkinson's side were the lowest-ranked at Euro 2025 and they were put in Group D alongside holders England, 2017 champions the Netherlands and France, who had won every single one of their matches this year.Any team would have struggled in this group, never mind one that had never beaten a country ranked in the world's top 10.Wales battled valiantly in the first half of their opening game against the Netherlands but were undone by Vivianne Miedema's brilliance, before the Dutch punished their defensive mistakes after the break.France were even more ruthless. Although Fishlock gave Wales hope, Les Bleus clinically exposed the gulf in class between the two teams.The final match against England was a mismatch on another level, a chastening experience for Wilkinson's side.But there is no disgrace in losing to teams of such quality, particularly with Wales' limited resources.As FAW bosses have admitted, they are still playing "catch-up" with the leading nations.And although the gap between the best and the rest is significant, narrowing it in the future is not an insurmountable task.This Wales team have already shown they can make the impossible seem possible.By qualifying for Euro 2025, they have proven that to future generations. This was their first – but it will not be the last.